Point Loma  A wayward baby sea lion was scooped up outside a La Jolla home Tuesday morning by rescuers from SeaWorld, just weeks after she was released to sea following earlier rehabilitation at the facility.

The animal, spotted about 6:25 a.m. on Roseland Drive and Avenida Alamar, was one of about 336 pups that SeaWorld has rescued during an unprecedented wave of sea lion strandings, said SeaWorld spokesman Dave Koontz. And she was one of about 15 that returned to the center - dehydrated and malnourished - after a previous round of treatment.

As of April 18, more than 1,300 sea lion pups had been rescued by animal rehabilitation centers in Southern California, the National Marine Mammal Foundation reported, compared to just 151 for all of 2012. In March, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration declared a "marine mammal unusual mortality event" because of the peak in stranded animals.

Officials aren't certain why the young animals are distressed, but they suspect that changes in their food supply have prompted pups to wean early, and left them struggling to fish on their own. They are also investigating whether disease, pollution or other factors could play a part.

The sea lion rescued Tuesday had been rescued March 9 in La Jolla, weighing just 26 pounds, SeaWorld spokesman Dave Koontz said. She underwent a month of treatment at SeaWorld, where crew members administered fluids and reintroduced live fish until she was restored to a healthy weight of 42 pounds, he said.

California sea lions released from captivity while they were being rehabilitated at Sea World playfully porpoise in the Pacific moments after they left the Sea World Rescue boat.— John Gastaldo

California sea lions released from captivity while they were being rehabilitated at Sea World playfully porpoise in the Pacific moments after they left the Sea World Rescue boat.
— John Gastaldo

On April 10, with seven other pups, she was released offshore of San Diego at the 12-mile bank, a drop-off known for its rich array of sea life. Officials hoped the animals had recovered enough to survive in the wild. On Tuesday, less than three weeks later, the animal showed up in a La Jolla neighborhood, once again thirsty and emaciated.

Resident David Archambault said he heard crows making a racket and went outside to investigate. He found a sea lion in the middle of the street, about a quarter mile from the beach stairs near The Marine Room restaurant on Spindrift Drive.

“He crawled a pretty long way to get here,” Archambault said.

Neighbors corralled the mammal into the entryway of a home, where she sat for about 90 minutes until the SeaWorld crew arrived. When crew members checked her into the rescue center again, she weighed in at just 28 pounds.

"Obviously, this animal was not able to find food on its own," Koontz said.

The animals have been showing up in some unusual places. Earlier in April, a pup climbed into the driver’s seat of a car of a man who stopped after seeing the mammal lying on Ingraham Street near West Mission Bay Drive.

In March, a female pup was found lounging on a chair at the Pantai Inn in La Jolla.

In 2010, a pup made its way across the sand in Ocean Beach to Abbott Street, where it scooted under a police patrol car and refused to budge for hours.

In one of the more unusual rescues, a sea lion pup was picked up from a Del Mar restaurant parking lot in 2009. The adventurous animal had ended up about a mile away from the water after managing to cross four lanes of busy Via de la Valle.